


Taking it Slow

by realfakedoors



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Barnmates, Compatibility, Crack Relationships, F/F, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Meet-Cute, Moving In Together, Padparadscha is just a little bit slow, Platonic Lapis/Peridot, Post-Steven Universe: Diamond Days, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fic Exchange, and Peridot is just a little bit neurotic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 21:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18039170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realfakedoors/pseuds/realfakedoors
Summary: “Just, trust me?”Oh, stars. He had gone and used his sweet voice and doll-eye combination, the one that turned her, the Crystal Gems, even the Diamonds, into absolute puddy. And the worst part was, self-aware enough as Peridot was to recognize what he was doing, she was still hopeless to fight it.A weak grimace sat on her lips, but she released a sigh and a word of resignation before long.“...Fine.”Steven said it would be fine, so Peridot had to put her faith in that.He’d not led them astray yet, right?--Now for a story about how Steven led Peridot terribly astray.(Peridot x Padparadscha Valentines Crackfic! Smol romance, light fluff!)





	Taking it Slow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mundivore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mundivore/gifts).



> For Notorious JMK, "Mundivore," because smol girlfriends are the best girlfriends.

The Off-Colors were staying on Earth.

Which meant, in effect, the Off-Colors were going to need somewhere to _stay_ on Earth.

And it was that little semantic difference that had Peridot bending over backwards to try to be a good Crystal Gem, to make a good first impression of Earth for these escaped gems. She’d been tireless in her pursuits of rebuilding – no, _overbuilding_ – the barn she and Lapis had lost.

It was hardly a barn anymore, transformed into a “duplex-home-style-slice-of-Americana” that any middle class family would be proud to own. (That’s what Steven’s father said, mind you. Peridot understood the words ‘home’ and ‘style’ but the rest of it made all of zero sense otherwise.)

There were hardly any morps at all to decorate, besides a few pieces of neatly jagged ramparts from Blue and Yellow Diamond’s ship that Bismuth had forgone in the repairs. Still, it was painted with the familiar, crisp fire-engine red in the middle of a breezy green field, backlit by soft blue skies, decorated by afterthought cumulus clouds that were adrift the atmosphere. It was Peridot’s favorite sort of weather, sans a deep, bone-shaking thunderstorm; days like this were an excuse to appreciate how simple and yet breathtaking their Earth could be, a model of organic life and intricate ecosystems all working in silent, mind-numbingly sophisticated, harmony.

Still, when she tried to explain her dilemma to Steven on the devastating lack of morps, he was nothing if not sympathetic.

“That’s okay,” Steven told her with a satisfied smile tacked on to his perspiring face. “Now you get to make new memories!”

“No,” she had tried correct with as much patience as possible, throwing down a screwdriver in way that said _I’m-totally-and-calm-and-collected-go-away_. “I said we lost the _meep-morps_ , Steven. We have to remake those.”

He tilted his head to the side, still grinning. “I know, but don’t you think… actually, nevermind, you’re right.”

Now it was the gem’s turn to smile, letting out a satisfying huff of air and placing her hands on her hips. “As is usually the case. Do you think they will find it to their liking? Do you think red was an appropriate choice?”

“I don’t think they’ll care about the color. It’s perfect, Peridot.” Steven said, his voice distracted but not missing in warmth. He was half-turned away, an arm shielding his eyes from the sunshine. “They’re not going to be here for awhile, I think. Lars is going to come with them to check out the place, but he’s going to stay with his parents.”

She wrinkled her nose, secretly relieved. “Ah, yes. The pink human. He is…”

And before Peridot was forced by conversational axioms to thread together something of a reply that wasn’t an outright insult to Steven’s unusual friend, a familiar, wobbly black shadow moved in front of them – well, more aptly, _above_ them.

“Hi, Lapis!” Steven greeted, waving a hand animatedly overhead as she touched down beside them.

“Hey.” The blue gem wore a small but sincere smile, tapping Steven’s outstretched hand in a high-five. Directing her attention towards Peridot, a furrow appeared in her brow, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Wow, it looks better when you step back and look at it, huh? I feel like I didn’t appreciate how… _red_ it is.”

“See? It _is_ too red!” Peridot threw her hands up, turning towards Steven in frustration.

The teenager held up two hands defensively. “Nooo, Peridot, I told you it’s going to be _fine._ You’re overthinking it!”

Testily, she ground her heel into the dirt. “How can you be _certain_?”

“Just, trust me?”

Oh, stars. He had gone and used his sweet voice and doll-eye combination, the one that turned her, the Crystal Gems, even the _Diamond_ s, into absolute _puddy_. And the worst part was, self-aware enough as Peridot was to _recognize_ what he was doing, she was _still hopeless_ _to fight it._

A weak grimace sat on her lips, but she released a sigh and a word of resignation before long.

“... _Fine_.”

Steven said it would be fine, so Peridot had to put her faith in that.

He’d not led them astray yet, right?

 

* * *

 

Now for a story about how Steven led Peridot terribly astray _._

Like she’d been stretched taut like a wire, and Peridot waited, and boy if she didn’t _strongly and with a fiery passion_ dislike _waiting_. (“You shouldn’t say you hate things,” Steven had scolded her once.)

Presently, the diminutive green gem uneasily plodded her weight back and forth about ten feet from warp pad in the countryside, and beside her, Lapis stood statue-still, arms crossed. How is it she could afford to look _bored_ at a time like _this_?

Hours had passed. She’d gone over the schematics of the interior exactly six times, and checked the exterior foundation and electrical wiring at least six additional times. Lapis had followed her through the motions for awhile, but she and Pumpkin took a nap somewhere in between and it was all the better for Peridot, as it appeared that her collection of tools somehow got disorganized, which was silly because hadn’t she _just_ finished organizing them again? Well, whatever the case, Peridot had spent another good hour working on that, her foot tapping and fingers itching all the while.

Now she was out of time, but – but it would be _fine._ She’d double, triple-checked _everything_ , and she couldn’t seem to find a single thing out of place. Surely, their new barnmates would enjoy the place, right? After she gave them a tour, explained the thoughtful and dutiful work put into building it and making it as accommodating as possible, there wasn’t anyway they _couldn’t_ enjoy it.

...Probably.

These Off-Colors – they weren’t _like_ the original Crystal Gems. With Bismuth’s help explaining the tumultuous truth of Rose Quartz’s legacy, Steven and the others had managed to make a relatively painless transition to a new era of Crystal Gems, new and old, working together. Peridot found she quite liked anyone Bismuth introduced her to, ‘Snowflake’ and ‘Crazy Lace’ and all of the others. Despite the leap of thousands of years and the differences in scars each group wore proudly, they were at least united by a common goal, a history and legacy they accepted as their own – a creed first given by Pink Diamond to Pearl, then Rose Quartz to all of these older gems, and then again by Steven in the past two years.

But the Off-Colors… they were _different._

They’d traveled the stars, lived on and through Homeworld’s tyranny, interacted with humans outside of the context of the Earth – they were an enigma as far as Peridot was concerned. What if they didn’t like making meep-morps? Or Camp Pining Hearts? _Well, no,_ she reasoned with, _it’s an objectively good program, it’s impossible for them not to like it._

But what about everything else? Would they find Pumpkin strange, like Steven’s human uncle? What if they don’t want to stay and this was all for nothing? What if they spent all this time trying to help those cloddy clods and they don’t _even_ –

“You’re doing it again. Calm down.”

Lapis placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, squeezing to break Peridot from her trace. Unconsciously, she had begun bouncing her leg to a silent, frantic, nonexistent beat.

Coughing, because she could think of nothing else to do, Peridot nodded and murmured an apology.

Her leg stopped, but her anxieties didn’t.

From what she’d gathered, at least one of the components from each of the Off-Color fusions were as old as Pearl, while the asymmetrical Rutile was younger. As for the Sapphire, who she’d glanced from a distance a time or two, she had no idea. Many Sapphires were Era One creations just by way of the availability of the resources necessary to make gems of that caliber, but that wasn’t a hard and fast rule.Was she –

Like a heavy droplet of water that crashed into the surface of a still lake, Peridot was jarred into reality by the familiar diaphanous sound of the warp pad activating, her posture straightening so suddenly she almost lost her footing. Lapis snickered, and Peridot sent her a warning glare.

“– _then Mayor Dewey – er, just_ Dewey, _was like, **no, you can’t have your job back**_!”

The gunshot of Steven’s human friend carried over the hill, followed by a chorus of laughter that raptured the peaceful calm of the countryside. It had otherwise been disturbed only by the quiet call of crickets and rustling leaves, but no longer, and Peridot had to resist the urge to cringe. The laughter was warm and _should_ have helped her to relax, but it only made her more nervous. Was she supposed to tell _jokes_? Was that what would make them feel welcome? Of course, now that she needed a joke her mind was utterly blank – wasn’t there something about a chicken?

“Hey, Peridot, Lapis!” Steven’s voice broke through the general murmur of voices, waving with his unusual enthusiasm and leading the group of Off-Colors their way.

“Hey, Steven. Hey, everybody.” Lapis gave a polite wave and smile in response, and the fusion – _Rhodonite_ , Peridot reminded herself – began to mutter something to the Rutile ‘twins’ with an expression of deep anxiety.

Clapping her hands together, Peridot said in a too-loud voice, “Hello, fellow Homeworld defectors!”

The lot of them paused, the Rhodonite even going tense, and Steven bit his lip in a way that Peridot _knew_ indicated that she’d just made everyone uncomfortable.

Except, there was an abrupt peel of laughter from the Sapphire, and the others hesitantly chuckled along with her.

“I predict Steven’s friends will be eager to welcome us!” she declared, and Peridot shot a look towards Steven.

He supplied the world’s most unhelpful shrug, and gave a ‘shoo’ motion with his hands. What did that even _mean_?

“W-Well, anyway, most right, Padparadscha.” Peridot cleared her throat, her voice making it sound like she’d tried to swallow an ear of corn. “We are eager to show you the – ”

“ _Whoa_ , Steven, is that it?” The human interrupted, ducking down beside the half-gem and pointing behind them, at the newly reformed barn. “It’s crazy big! Who built it?”

“We did,” Lapis said with a thumbs-up. “Bismuth did a lot of the hard labor, but Peridot and I decorated and painted. Sort of… and designed the inside? It was a team effort.”

“ _Thaaaaaaat souuunnnnnnnds woooonnnnndeeeeeerful_ ,” Fluorite said, slowly but not lacking in warmth.

Peridot nodded fervently. “Yes, and we think you’ll –”

“It’s so _big_!” exclaimed one of the Rutiles, when the other added, “I didn’t expect it to fit all of us. Even Fluorite!”

Laughing, Steven led them forward with a wave of his hand. “Oh, yeah, these guys worked night and day on it! You’ll love it. Come on!”

“But I had a formal introduction – ”

Lapis gave her an apologetic smile but nodded towards the barn.“Come on, you can give it to them during the tour.”

“But I have a detailed tour _planned_ – ” she groused, but Lapis was already walking away, hands buried into her new-fancy-pants-pockets. Whatever.

Before Peridot managed to drag her feet after them, trying to scrap together a mixture of the two introductory speeches in her head and compounding them with the abrupt change in her mental roster, a voice from behind her startled her still.

“Oh! chimed an excited voice. “You and Lapis Lazuli built this? It’s incredible!”

Peridot turned, blinking. It was the Sapphire – Padparadscha – and she was positively beaming, hands clasped together in front of her.

“I, well, yes –” she adjusted her visor, surprised.

Humming and shuffling up beside her, the orange gem’s smile only seemed more sincere up close. “How thoughtful; I’d love a detailed tour.”

“Oh.” That gave her pause, and she looked up at the barn as the others crowded around it. Steven looked like he was re-telling a story now, presumably Lapis smashing Blue Diamond on the beach with the way he was gesturing with his hands, and they were all laughing and smiling in response. Even the Rhodonite seemed less tense, though Peridot was a bit too far to be certain.

“I predict that the others will find Steven’s stories most amusing.” Padparadscha commented, and Peridot nodded.

“I’d say you’re right about that.” Taking in a deep breath, trying to relax, she turned to the sapphire. “You really want to hear the tour? They look to be having an awful lot of fun anyway.”

Peridot winced, sounding more bitter than she’d intended, but there was truth to it. She’d worked so hard these past few days and it was… well, it was going _great!_ Just _perfect_. The group was moving inside now, smiles all around.

Without her.

“I think a tour sounds nice,” Padparadscha offered eventually, head tilted to the side. “Unless… I predict you’ll seem… sad. I’m sorry, did I –?”

“No, no!” She waved her hands back and forth immediately, blushing in embarrassment before turning on the spot and making a beeline for the barn. “Of course not, I’m just all in my head right now! I should be apologizing to you, Padpar– huh? Oh.”

Swiveling around _again_ , Peridot had to double-take when she realized the other gem had not moved, was rooted in place with the same frown on her face.

The orange gem shook her head before dashing after Peridot. “Yes, of course! I must apologize, I had a most wonderful vision just a moment ago – did you know your cheeks turn dark green when you are embarrassed?”

“H-Hey! I do not!” Peridot insisted, and like the Diamond’s had cursed her form to betray her, her cheeks turned to a shade that would make the surrounding trees proud. “J-Just, come on already.”

Frustrated, and now flustered, Peridot reached out and snatched the gloved hand of the other gem, who put up no resistance in being guided along to the barn, finally within hearing distance of the group again. How had it all gone so magnificently off the rails so _quickly?_

As they entered the double doors, left wide open to welcome the light, fresh scent of the fields under moonlight, the others looked up.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Rhodonite cried, running up to the orange sapphire with a look that suggested she was about to pick the smaller gem up, but froze.

Her eyes honed in on their hands, which Peridot only now realized, conveniently, were still intertwined.

“Ah- s-sorry! We were just talking, and then she got left behind – and I just –”

The fusion, for the first time since Peridot had met her, smiled. She held up four hands and began to back away. “Oh, no, no. I’m sorry. Don’t let me interrupt.”

Her cheeks were burnt dark, forest green at that point, and it the muttering on the other side of the barn was making her uncomfortable. Fluorite, Steven, and Rhodonite were all wearing smiles so _presumptuous_ that it was causing her stomach to knot.

“We weren’t – _I’m not –!”_

“Wow, this is beautiful,” Padparadscha interrupted, craning her neck and looking around at the multilevel complex, and Peridot was glad she, at least, was willing to ignore the fusion’s unwanted assumptions.

“T-Thank you, I agree.” She pursed her lips, glaring across the room, and led the orange gem in the other direction to show her the stairs, the pulley and lever system they’d developed, and where each of them would have designated ‘rooms’. They made it about halfway down the length of the wall before Padparadscha suddenly snatched her hand back, and now _she_ was burnt reddish orange all the way up to the tips of her ears.

“O-Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I just – I’m sorry. I get left behind sometimes and I –”

This time, Peridot cut her off, waving her hands between them. “No, no, it’s okay! It’s not your fault, I didn’t mean to – I should have just _waited_. I’m sorry. It was my fault. ”

“...I’d love to see the rest of the building,” Padaradscha said shyly after a moment, and Peridot felt herself tense when her hand was reclaimed by the sapphire. “Thank you for agreeing to show me.”

“I meant – well – I said it before and then – ”

“ _Psst, Peridot.”_ At her shoulder, a new voice popped in her ear. It was Steven, and he sent her a wink before he leapt up the stairs, four at a time. “ _Just go with it!”_

“I…” she threw up her other hand, ready to argue, but the fingers interlocked with her own started to slacken and she immediately felt guilty.

“O-Oh, if you don’t want to, then –”

“No, no, I want to! I just – this was – I’m not used to this. Forget it. Let’s, um, just, look around. I’ll start with the interior design.. Um, so, we went with this floorplan, inspired by...”

 

* * *

 

After a few awkward minutes, Peridot fell back into her familiar rhythm. She’d recited the facts and figures about the barn with painstaking detail in her minds eye, and her audience seemed constantly surprised and interested by what the green gem explained, so that provided some much needed validation for Peridot. They went around through every ‘room’, the ‘lounge area,’ dedicated meep-morp space, and the other amenities she and Lapis had thought to include in their second attempt at a home.

By the time they fully finished, it appeared that Steven’s human friend was prepared to leave for the evening, only after having made a mess of their couch and scattering some morping tools around heedlessly.

Peridot sighed, straightening up while Padparadscha said her goodbye to “Captain” Lars, and deemed it an appropriate time for their cataloguing of the barn to be over. Steven yawned and sent her a quick smile, otherwise absorbed in a conversation with the pair of Rutiles and Fluorite.

“Bye, guys!” Lars called over his shoulder, strolling out of the barn with a dramatic spin, and Steven called out after him, following him into the night.

The remaining gems began to converge in the central living space, and Lapis had taken up one of her books in the closest recreation to her favorite lounge chair that they could find. Padparadscha turned at the same time Peridot began to float closer towards the congregation, and the green gem had to stop and cackle a bit. The human had gotten some dirt on Padparadscha’s face during their brief hug.

“Your face, you’ve got some dirt,” she said between snickers, pointing to her own cheek to indicate. In response, Padparadscha offered only a sad smile, attention focused downward at the ground in a look of sobering sadness. It took Peridot by surprise, and immediately apologetic, she moved forward and wiped the dirt away.

“S-Sorry, that was rude, I shouldn’t have laughed. I keep forgetting your cognitive faculties are delayed –”

A hand moved to cover Peridot’s as her thumb brushed away the blotch of brown pockmarked across the apple of Padparadscha’s cheek, and Peridot frozen, eyes widening.

“O-Oh. I’m… sorry. I feel like I keep… and you’ve been very kind to me. I’m sorry. I can’t really keep up. I wish I could.”

Peridot opened her mouth to respond, but, remembering the delay, closed it again and waited several seconds. She would let her catch up this time, hear the apology, and then when the orange gem pulled her face away or smacked Peridot’s hand they could get the awkwardness over and done with.

So she waited for a few seconds, and….

Well, she had to wait a few more. Just a couple more seconds, surely.

 _Annnnnd_ maybe a little longer.

And…

Stammering, Peridot tried to explain, “U-um, did you... hear me...? I’m not sure how long it usually takes you to catch up…?”

There was a slight smile on the orange gems face, and after about five seconds, she said, “Oh, I heard it, I just… sort of liked it.” She sighed, leaning into the touch with such surprising affection that it made Peridot’s skin tingle where it met the hard-light of the other’s skin.

“Oh, what a lovely vision! Another one – you’ve turned ever greener than before. It’s quite becoming.”

And then, the barn filled with laughter again, first Padparadscha’s and then her fellow Off-Colors joined in, pointing at the pair of them; Lapis didn’t look up from her book, but she did have a smirk sitting knowingly on her expression that suggested she heard every word.

Peridot finally drew back her hand, more embarrassed than she’d ever been in her three-hundred years, but snatched up the orange gems hand with an annoyed, determined look on her face.

“J-Just c’mon, already.”

Stupid Steven, promising that everything would be fine and she wouldn’t make an utter _fool_ of herself.

Definitely Steven’s fault. Yep. Peridot was definitely only going along with it at this point to be nice. To this day, Peridot blames him everytime she and Padparadscha hold hands. They do that a lot now. Under protest, of course.

It wasn’t because Padparadscha’s gloves were feather-soft and her laugh came at the most unexpected but somehow perfect times, right whenever Peridot felt like she needed to hear it most of all.

 _Just trust me_ , Steven had said. Now look where that got her.

 

 


End file.
